Making a synchronus spawn –  ‘generic’ season table data

The trick is to get your corals to spawn at the same time so you can move to the next step, fertilization. You can put a version on your dispaly right now and see if you can just get corals to spawn before you move onto the next step. Pretty regularly, for me since 2018, the corals controlled by APEX have spawned 12-15 days after the full moon in Nov and Dec with the below schedule. 

Set up your APEX season table to a spawning cycle. Access the season table in APEX local and then adjust to your needs. Below is the schedule I am using in the Secret Home Lab and on my display system. 

Gravid corals or long term corals?

Traditionally researchers have collected or obtained gravid corals or likely to be gravid corals 2-3 months before the projected spawn. This allows for faster results, which are often necessary when you have been given grants or funding. However, now that we understand spawning better, you can simply put a spawning schedule on your tank and see what happens, or invest in corals a year or so in advance of the projected spawn. 

Data for season table

This is the 2022 season table for near Cairns on the Great Barrier Reef. This makes a good general season table to use because there are no double new moons in a month, which means no mid year seasonal work arounds need to be implimented. This schedule produced a spawn in November and December, approximately 12-15 days after the full moon for those months. If you want to spawn to occur in a different month, just move the months around in the 12 month period – if you want a spawn in May, put the December data in for May, the Novermber data for April, and so on. Always check the APEX season table programming in January, because it resets the new moon dates, though all the rest seems to stay. 

The season table is available on through APEX local, not APEX fusion. You have to be on the same network as the APEX to access APEX local, so you can’t really edit it when you are on the road. The easiest way to get to APEX local is look at the upper left of APEX fusion for the name of your APEX, click it, and you will get a drop down menu. Scroll to, the selcect ‘network’. Find your IP address in the list, copy it, then paste it into a new browser window. You will be asked to log in (it should be the default APEX login info, or the same login info you use for fusion. Then, click the gears, then click the wrench, then click the sun and you will be able to adjust the settings for sunrise/sunset, moonrise/moonset, temp, and the date of the new moon for the year. 

RICH FIGURE OUT A BETTER WAY TO SAY THIS – Was just checking the moon schedule for May, June. Looks like the new moon in May is set for 13th, and in June it is also 13th. Then jumps to 22 in July. That is because ‘June’ is December and ‘July’ is January – the year is ‘restarting’ as we are not following the real calendar – the new moon this year was the 11th (our ‘year’ is 2023. Since that jump is after the spawning, it shouldn’t impact anything much at all.